Wine Shop Grabs Retail Space in Midtown Marble Gem
By Tobias Salinger January 7, 2015 9:00 am
reprints
The owner of a distinctive marble building in Midtown East revived the once-crumbling structure, and now his broker has turned water into wine.
Arco Wines, a subsidiary of an experienced fine wine and liquor store operator, signed a 10-year, 2,800-square-foot lease to occupy the basement, ground floor and mezzanine space at 4 East 43rd Street, Commercial Observer has learned. The store will open in May.
Building owner Omega Chang‘s VPC Tower, a eight-story gem surrounded by skyscrapers between Madison and Fifth Avenues, commanded an asking rent of $35,000 per month for the retail space, said Alexander Hill, a managing partner at the Murro Hill brokerage.
Mr. Hill represented both the landlord and the tenant in the negotiations, he said. He declined to specify other locations operated by the tenant.
Mr. Chang bought the property in 2009 for $6.3 million and later implemented a gut renovation that restored the building’s columns, cherubs and crests, he told CO in August. The owner’s liquor and tobacco marketing company, Mr. Von Pok Inc., operates out of the building’s top two floors.
